With the nation’s attention focused on who will become America’s next president, there are dozens of other important issues at stake across the country ranging from the legalization of marijuana and assisted suicide to banning the death penalty.

Politico is reporting on 33 issues that are the ballot next week, many of which will have an enormous impact on the American way of life.

For instance, medical marijuana will probably become legal in a majority of states this month, and the number of states permitting recreational use could double. Arkansas, Florida, Montana and North Dakota will vote on legalizing medical marijuana and a “yes” in any of those states will make the drug legal in a majority of U.S. states. Recreational pot is presently legal in four states but five more are taking up marijuana-related ballot initiatives next week – Nevada, Arizona, California, Maine and Massachusetts.

Number two on Politico’s list is the possible election of the country’s first openly bisexual governor. Oregon’s Kate Brown, who became governor after her predecessor, John Kitzhaber resigned in a corruption scandal, is now up for election. If she wins – and polls show her up by double digits – she will become the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor in American history.

At number five is the possibility that the number of states banning the death penalty will reach an all-time high of 21. “ . . . 2016 is a critical year for the cause, as voters in California, Nebraska and Oklahoma will decide state initiatives on the topic,” Politico reports. “If California and Nebraska ban the use of capital punishment, that will make a total of 21 states where executions are illegal.”

Number six on the list could make Colorado the only state in the nation to implement a statewide single-payer health care system. Known as ColoradoCares, supporters believe it will be better than Obamacare because it will provide premium-free health care to all citizens. The downside is that it would mean increasing the payroll tax in Colorado by 10 percentage points

Coming in at number nine on the list is the state of Maine which could become the country’s biggest voting experiment depending on how citizens vote on Question #5 on the state ballot. This initiative proposes replacing Maine’s current electoral system with ranked-choice voting which will allow voters to express their numerical preferences for all state offices, including U.S. senators and U.S. representatives.

“When ballots are tallied, if no candidate has more than 50 percent of voters’ first choices, then the least-popular candidate will be eliminated,” Politico reports. “His or her supporters would have their top-ranked candidate crossed off their ballots, and their votes would fall to their second-ranked candidates. Supporters believe that ranked-choice voting empowers third parties and gives voters more options. Detractors believe that there’s nothing wrong with the simple ‘majority or plurality rules’ setup right now, and point to studies linking ranked-choice voting to lower voter turnout.”

Maine would be the first state to adopt such a system, but it is already being used in cities such as San Francisco, Oakland, St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Number 17 is all about the District of Columbia’s quest to become a state. Washington DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is going to try a method used in Tennessee in 1796 when the territory approved a state constitution first, and then applied for statehood. A ballot initiative to be voted upon next week will give voters the opportunity to authorize the City Council to approve a constitution for the proposed state of “New Columbia.”

At number 22 is a ballot initiative in Colorado that would enact “Death with Dignity” legislation that will legalize physician assisted suicide in that state. If it passes, Colorado will join Washington, Oregon, California and Vermont as the only states with such laws on the books, making physician assisted suicide legal in one-sixth of the nation. However that number could greatly increase next year when at least 20 states will consider the issue.

Politico’s list includes other initiatives such as Indiana’s attempt to amend the state’s constitution to establish a right to hunt and fish. Washington’s Initiative 732 will decide whether to enact a tax on carbon, which could make it the first such statewide tax in the country. Chickens and cows in the state of Massachusetts could see a dramatic improvement in living conditions if a ballot initiative passes that will ban inhumane confined animal feeding operations by requiring producers of eggs and meat to give these animals enough space to lie down, stand up, extend their limbs and turn around.

As this list proves, November 8 is about a lot more than just who will become our next president!

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